


All you knead is love

by sunshine_kitcat (moonkevin)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baking, Childhood Friends, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Growing Up, Just a feel good family fic, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, No Plot/Plotless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23100658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonkevin/pseuds/sunshine_kitcat
Summary: “I bet you five bucks this cheesecake will not be the slightest bit edible," Renjun deadpans, eyeing the recipe in Donghyuck’s hand warily. The latter rolls his eyes and sticks out his tongue, nose scrunching as he glares at his childhood best friend. Donghyuck’s brother, Lucas, glances up and down Renjun’s tiny figure as if internally debating whether the younger was serious before a huge puppy grin bloomed on his face.“Deal," Lucas says. Jeno sighs at this, laying out all their baking utensils as he looks at Kunhang as if saying ‘please, for the love of all things good and happy, stop them’. Kunhang, unsurprising to none, simply plops a cheese puff in his mouth.“Make it ten, you cowards," Kunhang calls.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Liu Yang Yang, Mark Lee/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, referenced yutae dojae johnil and winkunten
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110
Collections: 99' ft 00' fic fest





	All you knead is love

**Author's Note:**

> #FT290

“I bet you five bucks this cheesecake will not be the slightest bit edible," Renjun deadpans, eyeing the recipe in Donghyuck’s hand warily. The latter rolls his eyes and sticks out his tongue, nose scrunching as he glares at his childhood best friend. Donghyuck’s brother, Lucas, glances up and down Renjun’s tiny figure as if internally debating whether the younger was serious before a huge puppy grin bloomed on his face.

“Deal," Lucas says. Jeno sighs at this, laying out all their baking utensils as he looks at Kunhang as if saying ‘please, for the love of all things good and happy, stop them’. Kunhang, unsurprising to none, simply plops a cheese puff in his mouth.

“Make it ten, you cowards," Kunhang calls. Yangyang cackles, nearly dropping the pan as he runs into Jeno midway to the island. His boyfriend steadies him, and Yangyang makes a big show of snuggling up against Jeno’s chest. Someone throws a cheese puff at them amidst the argument between Renjun and Kunhang about five or ten dollars.

“No PDA in my kitchen!” Jaemin hollers. Jeno shoots his best friend an apologetic look, but Yangyang’s gaze is a mischievous one. The youngest present grabbed Jeno by the shoulder and pulled him into a kiss, which earned them a multitude of ‘ew’s and cheese puffs. Between the chaos and too many chefs are seven boys trying to give their precious ‘old man’ a good birthday. Mark was out with his boyfriend, who has very specific instructions to distract Mark for as long as possible. 

“Hyuckie! What are the ingredients?” Jaemin yells over clanging pots and pans, trying his best to not let his found family destroy his kitchen. Smiling, Donghyuck holds up the recipe.

.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 1 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs _

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“Hyungie?” 

A violent cough.

Na Jaemin flinches, worry and concern knitting his five-year-old brow together. He moves to help his brother, who was clutching the toilet bowl as he hurls his guts out.

“Appa told me to give you this," Jaemin whispers worriedly. He shoves his hands out, a small pack of crackers and a tablet of medicine in one hand, and a glass of water in the other. His brother looks at him curiously, flushing the toilet before taking the crackers.

“Thanks, Nana," Mark Lee rasps, eyeing the medicine warily. Jaemin sees this, puts on his best 5-year-old version of his appa’s scowl.

“Appa told me you’re not allowed to eat a cracker before you take your medicine," Jaemin huffs. Mark scowls at him, rebellion on his face.

“But I can’t keep anything but crackers down!” He huffs, but Jaemin pays no mind. Taeyong had clearly told him to make sure Mark was taking his medicine, no matter what! 

“And now medicine will be on that list! You’re not getting out of this, hyung! If you don’t take it, I’ll tell papa you’ve been a bad boy!” Jaemin wags his finger, a smile stretching wide as he pulls his trump card. He knows Yuta would never actually do anything to Mark, but his brother looked up to papa so much he’d be heartbroken at the thought of being a bad boy to Yuta.

“You wouldn’t... How could my own brother do that to me?” Mark wails, reluctantly grabbing the medicine too. Jaemin revels in his victory.

“Appa is sad because of you hyung, so make him happy by taking your medicine! He doesn’t like seeing his favourite son sick!” Jaemin encourages, to which Mark only grins.

“He loves us both equally, remember?” Jaemin scoffs.

“Nope! You’re Appa’s favourite and I’m Papa’s favourite! That’s why we have different last names! Now take your medicine!” Mark shakes his head in defeat, seven-year-old hands throwing the medicine into his mouth and downing the glass of water. Then, he munches on a cracker as Jaemin tells him about how he just met the neighbour’s five-year-old child.

Mark is thirteen when he gives Jaemin a pack of crackers before Jaemin’s performance at the school talent show.

“Premature caution. So you don’t get sick."

“Stop using your big fancy high school words, hyung."

.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon _

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“H-hey! Give it back!” A scared voice cries out, broken as tears stream down. There’s a trio of laughs, and the girl in the middle sneers.

“Or what? You’ll run home to mama? Oh, wait! You don’t have one!” The two other playground bullies laugh, tossing a small lunch box between them. There’s a small boy with shiny eyes and trembling lips at their feet, on the verge of bawling his eyes out. There’s the teacher across the playground, not noticing what was happening. There’s the sight of another boy, barely taller or bigger than the weeping bullied. A hard line rests on his mouth, eyes burning with anger as he storms over to the group of girls.

“Hey! Stop it!” This boy yells, startling the other girls for mere moments. Almost immediately, the girl in the middle is batting her eyelashes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Hi, Jen," She draws out, voice honey-like and very much fake. Kim Jeno is long accustomed to this.

“Cut the act Siwoo, give him back his lunch," Jeno seethes, eyes flickering to the boy on the floor. Siwoo hesitates for a moment, smile wavering for such a small fraction of a second, no eight-year-old would be able to catch it. Jeno is not your average eight-year-old. Siwoo glides towards him, smile plastic and too wide as she leans in to whisper in his ears.

“Did you know that our new little transfer here..." She pauses for dramatic effect, to which Jeno takes the opportunity to lean away from the hag.

“...has three dads and not a single mom?” The witch grins, evidently satisfied with herself. Jeno rolls his eyes.

“And your point is?” Jeno snaps. Siwoo’s cheeks flush red.

“He’s a freak!” She screeches, confusion on her face.

“News flash Siwoo, nobody cares," Jeno scowls, moving past the sorceress. When he reaches her two friends, Jeno doesn’t even turn.

“And by the way, I won’t be coming to your birthday party next week," He calls, continuing on as he reaches the boy on the floor. The crone whirls back, indignant yelp ringing across the playground as she flushes. Jeno ignores her.

“Hi, there! I’m Kim Jeno. Who are you?” Jeno asks cheerfully. The boy is still shaking, clutching his lunch box tightly.

“Y-Yangyang," The boy sniffles, eyes wary of Jeno. Despite this, Jeno only smiles wider, eyes turning into their trademark crescent moons.

“Nice to meet you, Yangyang! Do you wanna eat lunch with me today?” Jeno prompts, drawing out his words. Yangyang nods, a small smile creeping up onto his lips. Then, he smiles and Jeno’s heart makes a promise his eight-year-old self couldn’t fully understand yet. His heart promises that he could never let any form of harm reach this boy from then on.

“I’ll give you my cinnamon roll as thanks then! My appa makes the best ones!” Yangyang says, determination in his voice. Jeno agrees, and Yangyang finds it hard to believe his guardian angel is so pretty. But that is irrelevant.

All that matters is that Jeno never breaks his promise.

Yangyang is fifteen when he found the nasty notes Siwoo and her crones etch onto Jeno’s desk. Yangyang is fifteen when he shows up to class early after almost every day to clean the desk, and to drop the markers back on Siwoo’s desk with the same note every day. ‘You’re not fooling anyone, Siwoo-ah’, it says. Yangyang is fifteen when he held Jeno’s hand, his new  _ boyfriend’s  _ hand, as Jeno finally tells Siwoo to get lost. She never bothered them again.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine, melted _

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Somewhere in the space-time continuum is an event so bizarre, even the world scratched its head in confusion. Two boys, born on the same day with only a few seconds in between them, their two soon-to-be-adopted fathers watching with nervousness as they came out two weeks too late. The two boys came out barely healthy and grew up in the presence of too many stuffed animals and a rather caring cat. 

And yet, the boys look and act nothing alike. 

Sure, the world would always create twins who are simply different, but at least those would always find some similarities between them. Even siblings with many years apart find more in common with each other than these two boys did.

Kim Jeno and Jung Renjun were, simply put, too different.

One was all smiles and gentle protectiveness, with a heart so big he wanted to save the world with it. The other was smart and cautious, carefully choosing who he opens up to and clearly all too shy.

And yet the two find a common friend group in three loud and easily excitable friends, and neither minded sharing everything they had. Jeno claims that sharing is caring, and he cares for his brother a whole lot. Renjun claims that life is meant to be shared with others, and would rather it be his own brother than anyone else in the world.

There seemed to always be a compromise, no matter how different the two brothers were. 

Well, almost always.

“We always watch Marvel!” Renjun shouts.

“And you picked the movie last week! And the week before that! And the week before that too! It’s my turn!” Jeno argues back.

“But you’ll just pick Winter Soldier again! I wanna watch something interesting!” Renjun counters.

“Winter Soldier is better than any other film...” Jeno pouts. Down by the couch, there are three boys watching this argument like a tennis match. Two of which we’ve already met, Qian Yangyang and Na Jaemin, the best friends that held the group together. However, the third was just as important to this friend group as the other two were.

“Compromise! We watch Ant-Man!” Moon Donghyuck shouts, grinning from ear to ear as the twins stare at him in disbelief. Quick to defuse the situation, Jaemin jumps to the controller and finds the movie immediately. Marvel and interesting. Smart move. Yangyang seems disappointed that the argument ended before popcorn was even thrown, but settles for trying to throw popcorn into Jaemin’s hair with Donghyuck after a while. There’s a ridiculously long sequence of logos on the screen as Renjun and Jeno pat each other’s thighs under blankets.

They were fourteen when Renjun and Jeno agreed to disagree.

“You’re just salty you lost, Jung."

“Please, I’m 100% unsalted, Kim."

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 4 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese softened _

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Moon Donghyuck is seven when the school bullies tease him for needing wheelies with his bike.

Moon Donghyuck is seven when he runs home crying to his dads, Johnny and Taeil, who are heartbroken to see their youngest child so sad.

Moon Donghyuck is seven when he gets his wheelies removed, barely brave enough to even get on the bike.

Moon Donghyuck is seven when he learns how to ride a bike. His brother is there every step of the way, making sure no street bump dared to scare Donghyuck from the bike.

Moon Donghyuck is seven when he falls off a bike for the first time, scraping his knees and crying his eyes out.

Moon Donghyuck is seven when his brother offers him a cheese stick to much on as he carries him home. His brother is significantly taller and larger, clearly inheriting Johnny’s height while Taeil and Donghyuck remain vertically challenged. His arms are thick and strong from playing sports all day, but his face remains the puppy-like expression it was given since birth. Suh Lucas is strong and jovial where Donghyuck is dainty and mischievous. 

Moon Donghyuck is seven when Lucas gives him a cute little band-aid for his knee. His face is one of determination, ready to crack at the bike the next day.

Suh Lucas is eight when he finally teaches his little brother how to ride a bike.

“Hyung! Look at me!” Donghyuck cheers, hands still a little wobbly as he finally rides the entire length of the street he lived on.

“I know! You’re doing so well Duckie!” Lucas whoops, voice echoing as the afternoon sun beats on their faces. Cicadas hum in celebration, happy to see their favourite ray of sunshine so euphoric.

“Race ya to the park, hyung!” Donghyuck yells, seven-years-old legs pedalling his heart out as he forged towards the park nearby. Lucas simply chuckles, running after his baby brother at a deliberately slower speed. Donghyuck wasn’t particularly fast either, but Lucas wanted to let him win this one. Maybe not just for the fact that he’s the elder brother, but also for the fact that he just wanted to see a Donghyuck’s euphoria carry into the night.

“You’re on a bike!” Lucas yells, although his voice is far from accusatory. Donghyuck grins in the wind, not sparing his brother a glance as he arrives at their finish line with Lucas hot on his heels. Or wheels. Both work.

“I win this round! Just like the last! And the one before that!”

Lucas is a simple soul. He likes bright smiles.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 1 and 1/4 cups sugar _

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“I don’t know ge. I’m just worried," A voice echoes down the hall, muffled by the door. Kunhang freezes on the spot, ears perking up as he turns towards the door. He ninjas his way towards it, careful not to make any sound while also holding down the rather overwhelming call from nature.

“Don’t interfere with them, Yangie," Dejun’s voice is clear this close to the door. There’s the distinct sound of Twix wrappers and Dejun’s sigh, punctuated by the ticking clock at the end of the hallway. It’s way past midnight, so Kun, Ten and Sicheng were fast asleep. Kunhang wonders how many times he and his brothers have stayed up way past what Kun wanted them to be asleep at. Really, he should listen to Sicheng and just let them sleep.

“Kunhang?” Dejun’s voice brings Kunhang back to the very fact that he was standing in front of his brother’s door eavesdropping.

“You have Twix," Kunhang deadpans, trying to not reveal his original intention. A bar of Twix is thrown at him from the bed, and years of living with Qian Yangyang trains him in the art of fast reflexes.

“Come in, ge!” Yangyang stage whispers as Dejun walks over and softly clicks the door closed behind him. Kunhang grins and unwraps the candy bar, sitting down onto Dejun’s bed and kicking off his slippers.

“Dad’s gonna kill us if he finds out it’s 2 AM and we’re still awake," Dejun warns, even though his high school senior self had pulled more all-nighters than Yangyang and Kunhang combined.

“What were you guys talking about?” Kunhang asks, already a quarter way through his candy bar. Yangyang starts fidgeting with a pillow, head down as Dejun sits down in his chair.

“It’s... about Injunnie," Dejun explains, and Kunhang understands immediately. Yangyang’s best friend is unusually sad lately, as if something bad had happened.

“I found out why he’s been so sad recently," Yangyang explains, lips pursed as he recounts the story. Apparently, Jaemin had asked Donghyuck to be his partner for homecoming, and Renjun has been sulky ever since. A familiar story, Kunhang realizes.

“I’m guessing everyone is betting on which one Injun’s jealous of?” Yangyang nods. Dejun’s head periodically checks the door, as if Kun’s going to burst in and go all screechy on them. Kun, who went through a predicament that was all too similar to Renjun’s current situation. Kun, their dear old dad who fell in love with their other dads at the same time. Kun, who was too nice for his own heart to be happy. 

It seems life is filled with dumbasses.

“Why is everyone so fucking dumb," Kunhang deadpans, causing Yangyang and Dejun to giggle uncontrollably. Kunhang playfully glares at his older brother.

“Stop laughing. You haven’t even had your first kiss yet ge," Kunhang teases. Yangyang makes quiet ‘oooh’ noise, prompting Dejun to crack a grin.

“You’re one to talk, how are things with Xuxi?” Dejun tosses back. Kunhang flushes red, and Yangyang is practically dying next to him. Impossibly cute, with a hint of pure evil. It seems to be a gene they all inherited from Ten.

“You guys are hopeless," Yangyang teases. Rolling his eyes, Dejun jabs a pencil in Yangyang’s direction.

“Shut up. You and Jeno were practically dating from day one," Dejun says, rolling his eyes as he plops another half a bar of Twix into his mouth. Kun has long banned them, but Sicheng always gives his kids too much leeway and Ten is anything but complacent to Kun’s fruitless attempts at a healthy lifestyle for the kids.

“Because we’re not dumbasses. You and Mark-hyung, however, are grade A idiots," Yangyang says, smirking.

“Hellspawn," Dejun interjects.

“Idiot,” Yangyang bites back.

Kunhang watches the argument with amusement, munching slowly on his candy. As long as they don’t turn on him, he’s perfectly content with just watching this back and forth. Petty arguments are true sibling love, and Kunhang couldn’t ask for better brothers.

“And then there’s this guy, who can’t even look at his crush without instant combustion!” Dejun turns over to Kunhang, smirking.

“Ge, you’re the weirdest," Yangyang deadpans.

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 1/2 cup sour cream _

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“Don’t you think that’s a little evil?” Ten questions, handing his youngest son a small jar of sour cream. Yangyang simply shrugs. Donghyuck pipes up.

“It’s what he deserves for breaking my new makeup brush," Donghyuck explains. Ten hums in agreement, already turning to leave after dropping Yangyang off.

“I’ll be back in two hours!” Ten calls as Yangyang shuts the door behind him, Donghyuck pulling the younger boy upstairs already. Johnny and Taeil were out having coffee with Yuta and Taeyong, while Lucas was out doing God knows what with Mark, so they have precisely an hour and a half to execute this plan.

“Operation Sour Cream is a go," Yangyang announces, hand gripping the bottle that is Lucas’s shampoo. Then, Donghyuck unscrews the sour cream jar and empties it into a large bowl. While Yangyang is meticulously squeezing out what was barely left of the bottle, Donghyuck mixes cherry ice cream with the sour cream, creating a similar-looking (and smelling) shampoo. They spend the next hour or so shoving the concoction into the shampoo bottle, careful to get rid of all evidence before playing Smash Brothers on Donghyuck’s (Lucas’s) Switch.

In the nick of time, Johnny and Taeil come home, waving hi to Yangyang and sliding a plate of cafe treats for the pair. Lucas comes home a few minutes later, looking a little more excited than usual. Donghyuck and Yangyang exchange worried glances, wondering if they’re about to ruin a really special day. They’ve managed to be stupid enough to not notice Mark’s excited waddle back home after getting a good test score, dumping water on him and his paper. That was not a fun aftermath.

“Shit," Donghyuck mutters under his breath as Yangyang runs after Lucas. At the sight of the younger, Lucas grins.

“Hey! Guess what?” Yangyang gulps.

“Uh... um.. what?” He stutters, although Lucas is so ecstatic he doesn’t even notice. Which means something REALLY good is about to happen. Double shit.

“I’m gonna ask Kunkun out tonight! Markie helped me make the preparations today, and Xiao’s gonna get him there," Lucas pauses for a second as if remembering something.

“I need to hurry," Lucas mutters. Yangyang widens his eyes.

“Wait!” He exclaims, just in time for Donghyuck to dash up the stairs. Lucas sends him a questioning glance. The gears turn in Yangyang’s brain frantically trying to stop the disaster.

“What are you gonna wear?” Yangyang asks, eyes darting for Donghyuck for help. Thankfully, years of friendship allows for desperate conversations to happen via eye contact. Without a moment of hesitation, Donghyuck grabs Lucas’s arm and drags him to the elder’s room.

“Oh dear brother, you can’t think of going in whatever you’ve chosen."

“I haven’t even chosen anything, though!" Lucas cries out with confusion. Donghyuck looks at him in horror.

“That’s even worse!” They disappear into Lucas’s room, leaving Yangyang to search for Johnny’s shampoo. Thankfully, father and son use similarly and Yangyang has time to barely save the day. He switches out the bottles, nearly slipping on the carpet on the way out.

“Did you keep the old one?” Donghyuck asks as Ten comes to pick Yangyang up, whispering as they pull each other into a hug.

“Who do you think I am?” Yangyang grins. As if sensing something has happened, Ten raises his eyebrow. Yangyang puts on his best innocent smile as he wishes the Moons goodbye.

“Did something happen?” Ten asks. Chuckling, Yangyang smiles and holds up a small bottle he kept in his hoodie.

“There’s been a change of plans."

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract _

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“You can’t fix this."

The words echo down the school’s front steps, etched in this memory like the afternoon sun on a sunflower. There’s the sight of three boys, one with streaming tears and trembling hands, one with confusion on his face and one running towards the first pair. There’s no breeze that afternoon, only whipping wind that could only mean that a storm was coming. The school courtyard is void of onlookers, save the curious squirrels and birds gathered on the large maple tree. The tree that once looked on as three boys dozed off underneath its branch, looking more content with the world then thought possible. Now, it sways in pain as the same boys stand in the ocean of hurt they’ve drowned themselves in. The waters at their necks and the world holds its breath to try and give them more time. A little more, and maybe the boys can save themselves.

But that wasn’t the story worth telling here. That story is one riddled with heartbreak, loneliness and wanting more, so unbelievably greedy and human-like, to deserve more. This story is about family and friendship, telling the story of reliability and constants, not the fickle thing one calls love. There was no family in what these boys chose to put themselves through, so we look for an alternate story.

Except, there isn’t one.

The scent of vanilla is heavy in the air, a constant reminder that this was, as painful as it is, a love story. The kind of love that humans place on a pedestal and worship. The kind of love they call ‘romance’, in which both sides abandon their most reliable friendships and closest found family for the sake of something more. Even the boys’ families find themselves in this crossroads of familiar and romantic love. The common question was whether or not the boys were to be happy afterwards if their human greed for love was satisfied. The common answer was yes, although cowardice dragged the process along painstakingly. Humans were inherently flawed, ruined by a different type of love.

Ducking under a stray root, a cat watches the scene with a certain distaste, scowling as the collar around its neck jingles. One of the boys was the cat’s most precious caretakers, and to watch that same caretaker in tears because of his heart makes the cat hiss with anger for love. Renjun deserves the world at its happiest, and these two boys his human heart fell for were supposed to be enough. But when one of them got greedy and a couple was born, there seemed to be no room for Renjun.

The cursed Na Jaemin and Moon Donghyuck, who bring love and light to Renjun’s life. 

The cat turns on its heel, disappointment in humans heightening as it sneaks back through the tree roots. It faintly registers that Jung Renjun now has two hearts to call his own and that the platonic love in his heart will lose two souls. The cat prays that this will be the first and last time Renjun must brave the ocean of hurt.

Love is a cruel mistress.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ 5 large eggs _

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Maybe it all began with a cracked egg. 

It was their last one too, sitting in the empty carton of cardboard in the fridge, just waiting to remind Dejun that he needed to replenish their supply of fresh eggs for breakfast. It’s afternoon, on a Saturday morning when he remembers that it’s technically Mark’s turn on the grocery run. Dejun peeks his head into Mark’s room, expecting to see the other slaving away to yet another project his dual major kept on giving him. There’s a soft sigh as Dejun realizes that Mark is not hunched over to work, but rather slumped over to sleep on the desk. A line of drool trails down the corner of his mouth, and Dejun resists the urge to wipe it away and carry Mark to his bed. Not like he could anyways, arms too frail and weak for such activities.

“Minhyung?” Dejun settles on saying, gently shaking his friend out of the uncontrollable exhaustion that befalls on his shoulders. Mark whines, husky voice moving to a higher pitch as Dejun prods him awake.

“Five more minutes," Mark mumbles. Yet another sigh leaves Dejun’s lips while Mark stirs, shifting to be more comfortable.

“Sleep on your bed, Minhyung. I’ll take groceries this week," Dejun whispers, trying to pry the 175cm lion cub off of his chair. He knows Mark feels uncomfortable with that name being mentioned by anyone but his parents, so Dejun uses it to his full power every time he needed to get Mark’s attention. Mark’s eyelids flutter open ever so slightly, ruffles hair a beautiful shade of brown in the afternoon haze. Dejun resists the urge to run his finger through it, instead focusing on getting his friend of too long away from work.

“No, it’s my turn this week," Mark mewls, trying to stand up as Dejun holds his ground.

“I’ll go. You’re a zombie at this point, and I really don’t want you to accidentally drag back yet another nice old lady to cook more kimchi fried rice for us," Dejun coaxes. Mark was rather filterless in his exhaustion, and Dejun was tired of the random people he insults suddenly showing up around campus staring daggers into Mark’s back. Said boy simply huffs.

“But it’s what I need to do," Mark mumbles. Dejun rolls his eyes.

“What you need is sleep."

Silence.

Dejun wants to interrupt it, asking what’s on his mind when a soft snore draws out from the boy sat in front of Dejun. Chuckling, the latter walks out of the room to find his wallet and head to the convenience store. He’s about to leave when he hears a loud crash coming from Mark’s room. Unfazed, the boy simply walks to the room and drapes a blanket over Mark’s sleeping figure. He turns to leave again, before a frail hand grips on his wrist. Mark peeks out from under the blanket, that goofy smile on his lips.

“You called me Minhyung," Mark whispers, sleep drunk as his eyes flutter. Dejun flushes. Mark takes the cue and closes his eyes, smiling cheekily as he whispers softly.

“Which means I get to call you baby," Mark grins. Dejun rolls his eyes. He didn’t hate that name, per se, it was just how much Mark uses it to tease the boy whenever possible. Mark was the icon of oblivious, and Dejun can only dwell in the depths of Mark’s endeared teasing. So much fondness. Dejun only wishes Mark’s habit for pet names would carry a more romantic weight behind each smile.

Maybe Dejun simply didn’t know that Mark wishes his transparency wasn’t so easily rejected every time.

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/\ /\

(\ ^ u ^ )/  _ An extra large helping of love _

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“Injunnie owes me ten," Lucas calls, grinning like an overexcited puppy as Jaemin pulls the pan out of the oven. The cheesecake is smooth, not a single crack on its surface as Jeno and Kunhang ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s over it. Donghyuck wraps his arms around Renjun and laughs excitedly, cheering about how he could always be trusted and that Renjun was overly skeptical of his baking abilities.

“Nana did most of the work," Renjun points out, to which Jaemin simply shrugs.

“I like to think it’s the love that makes it amazing," Jaemin says simply. Yangyang fake gags over at the kitchen island, a little bit of vanilla frosting squirting onto his hands as he maneuvers it over to the cake. Jeno wraps his arms around Yangyang’s waist from behind, peeking over his shoulder for a good view of the art that was about to become a disaster.

“Why did we let Yangie do the frosting again?” Kunhang asks, settling down onto a kitchen stool. The youngest present gasps, faking it with such dramatics Donghyuck feels proud to call Yangyang his best friend. Rolling his eyes, Jeno sticks his tongue out at Kunhang before defending his boyfriend.

“Yangie took a course on cake decorating with Mark, so it’s only fitting that he does it," Lucas’s stare on the cake turns to confusion as he looks at Jeno.

“Why did he take a course of cake decorating?” Yangyang shushes him, concentration on his brow as he starts drawing out a large watermelon in the middle of the cake. Renjun comes to the rescue.

“Bonding reasons. Yangie and Markie barely interact outside of our group events," Renjun explains. Lucas takes the answer, shifting to get a better look at the cheesecake. The next half hour is spent on the watermelon, and in the end, they decide to simply stick candles into the cake for Mark’s age and name, since Dejun had texted earlier that they were on their way back. The septet separates the moment the doorbell rings, making sure to hide in every conceivable nook and cranny with large party favours and streamers, all ready to go in the large, decorated apartment. The room was silent as the door swung open, revealing a pair of boyfriends trying to find the light switch.

“Baby, I think it’s on your left,” Dejun’s voice calls out. A fumble.

“That’s my nose, Minhyung," Dejun’s voice calls out again.

“Is it? To your right then," Mark replies. Another fumble, along with with the distinct sound a hand smacking against skin.

“That’s your nose, Minhyung," Dejun deadpans.

After a while, Mark finally manages to flick the switch on, revealing a large banner and too many streamers one store could handle (they wiped out two stores). All seven of them burst out from their hiding spots, yelling "SURPRISE!" so loud, they scare the pigeons that have amassed outside of the windowsill.

Celebrations are about as chaotic as they could be, with Mark receiving a large number of watermelons to bring home later on. The cheesecake is destroyed within the first fifteen minutes, eager hands foregoing utensils in favour of smearing it over Mark’s face. They had to start making cheesecakes instead of birthday cakes just for this reason. There was less of a mess.

At five before midnight, Mark pulls his brother away from the loud noraebang session for a large hug.

“Thanks, Nana. I doubt the cheesecake would’ve been edible without you," Mark whispers. Jaemin grins, happy to see his brother so ecstatic.

“I somehow fear for my own birthday then," he jokes, drawing out laughter from Mark.

“We’ll get one from the store. But seriously, how the hell did you make it so good?” Mark questions, good humour behind his question. Jaemin only shrugs.

“All you knead is love,"

And love was easy between this band of nine boys.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on twitter if you want: @heonynchans


End file.
